Peanut Butter Recall Expands

Popular Brands Named; Salmonella Cases in 19 States So Far

Sept. 26, 2012 -- The nationwide recall of peanut butter has vastly expanded to include dozens of peanut butter, tahini, and other nut butter products, many sold under popular brand names.

All of the products use nuts from Sunland Farms. The New Mexico nut company is the likely source of a salmonella outbreak that so far has sickened 30 people in 19 states.

Four people who ate the products have been hospitalized. There have been no reported deaths. Those sickened in the outbreak range in age from 1 to 77. Half the cases are in children 7 and younger; two-thirds of cases are under 10.

CDC, state, and local officials had been looking for the source of an outbreak of Salmonella Bredeney infections that began on June 11. The investigation suggests that people became ill after eating Trader Joe's Creamy Salted Valencia Peanut Butter.

All 14 ill people interviewed so far report shopping at Trader Joe’s locations across the U.S. Twelve (86%) of these 14 people report eating Trader Joe’s Creamy Salted Valencia Peanut Butter made with sea salt in the week before becoming ill.

The Trader Joe's product came from Sunland Farms, which supplied nut butters sold under many popular brand names such as Target's Archer Farms and Harry & David. All of these products are being recalled.

Some of the Sunland products being recalled were sold in 500-pound barrels, suggesting that the peanut butter has been used to make other kinds of products. Chattanooga Bakery, the maker of MoonPie and other snacks, and Sunridge Farms have recalled products made with nuts sold by Sunland.